electric (aux) heat help.

Hello,

My name is Kevin. I have recently moved into a newly built house. I must say it is very nice in regards to the older house I lived in. It has a 2 ton (without getting up I recall that's what is was.. it has "24 in the model NO. which should stand for btu's I believe). It also has a 5 kw heat strip. for aux, and emer.
It has a separate wire for E terminal, and a separate wire for AUX terminal.
something I have had to get used to in a much smaller house, that's extremely efficient compared to what I had before,in that by the time my old house was cooled off, it was so dry in the house from the long cycle, that it felt great. This, to me, cools down so quickly the cycles are short, I have also already put the fan speed to slow. ANYWAYS.. I am pondering, since I live in FL with very mild winters, can I disable the aux heat and leave the emergency heat available incase I need it?
Im seeking the slow rise in temp, thus creating longer run cycles to rid of the (cold spots) in the house. Any more than a 1 degree difference and the aux pops on. I am a tightwad and would rather wait the few extra minutes for the heat pump to do it. I am only wanting the heat pump to be on, unless I switch it to emergency heat, which I would only do incase of heat pump failure. When the electric heat comes on, its great, but I.M.O not a long enough cycle to get that pleasant warmth from the heat pump, after the 8 minuts the heat pump takes to warm up, the electric heat has done the job. I know how to edit the install settings, (the numbers you scroll through) but there isn't an option for AUX OFF... which is basically what im looking for.. Any ideas?

Sorry that was long winded..

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

 

Welcome to the forum!! Yes, what you want to do can be done. Normally the auxiliary heat strips are energized to temper the air when the heat pump goes into defrost. If it doesn't get cold enough at your location to require the heat pump to defrost then no issue. Some of the better thermostats allow you to lockout the heat strips. Your thermostat may have that capability.

 

I have a honeywell Th3210d thermostat. With a carrier 25hbc

 

Your thermostat is non=programmable so it won't lock out the strips. You can remove the wire from the AUX terminal on your thermostat. Emergency heat should work when you set the thermostat to Emergency heat. most of the time the heat strips are wired together in the air handler. I would need to look at a wiring diagram to see which wire to disconnect from the defrost control at the heat pump so the heat strips are not energized in defrost mode (if it is activated).

 

OK.. Thanks so much sir.
That sounds exactly like what I was thinking.... It IS a good idea right?.. I hope..my old house had a jumper from emergency terminal to Aux terminal.. This one does not.. Thus we should be able to? .. Please dumb it down a knotch for me... What is it you need a picture of again? The diagram on the inside panel of the outdoor unit?

Thanks

Kevin

 

Here is a link to your installation manual:

https://www.forwardthinking.honeywel...ll/69_1775.pdf

On page 8 there are tests (10 and 20) you can do to see if it works as you desire after the changes are made. Yes, a clear photo of the outside unit would be helpful.

 

Here is a link to some info about your heat pump:

http://www.captiveaire.com/CatalogCo...5hbb-c-5si.pdf

Attached is a diagram that shows the defrost control board. At the bottom there is a section where the thermostat wires coming from the air handler connect. If you want to sever the signal from the auxiliary heat strips so they are not energized in defrost mode you can remove the wire from the W2 terminal (red box). During defrost mode the condenser fan shuts off. That is done through the relay. The condenser fan is connected to the OF-2 terminal. You can remove and connect the two leads attached to OF1 and OF2 so that the fan will run anytime the condenser is running.

 

OK..can't view the link.. Computer is screwed up.. Over due for a reformat...lol... So... If I understand correctly you're saying undoing the Aux wire behind the thermostat will stop it from coming on when I have it in regular heat mode.. But will still work in emergency heat mode.. And the other on the defrost board will stop them from coming on even during defrost..assuming only doing behind the thermostat would not stop it from coming on during defrost right?

 

Yes, you have it. The W2 connection at the condenser connects directly to the air handler and is not connected to the thermostat. The W2 connection from the condenser would normally turn on the heat strips during defrost mode. Here is another possibility that might even be easier: if your heat strip(s) each have a circuit breaker in the air handler you can flip the breaker off to disable the heat strip(s). Some air handlers use only one large breaker to protect the air handler and heat strips instead of individual breakers for the strips. If you do have the individual breaker(s) that would be the best route in case you had a cold front come in and need the auxiliary heat and defrost function heat.

 

Ok,

Thanks again man your awesome!

I went behind the thermostat and unplugged the white wire from the AUX terminal,
and I left the brown wire that goes to the E..."emergency heat" I presume.
Did not to the outside part yet as it was dark when I got home.
Tried using emergency heat to test, didn't feel hot out of the vents... then again, I guess a 5k doesn't get very hot. My old house you could hear the relay click when the heat strip came on...IDK.
How do I know for certain if the heat strip is off? It says on the thermostat its still looking for aux heat, but the wire is unplugged so it should be good then.

On another note, My home is around 1100 sq ft, I have r13 in the walls, and r38 in the roof, double payne windows and cement-board siding. My unit has 25 in the model, I do believe its a 2 ton. in cooling season ( not now, aka borderline heat season, ) but april-now when its hot in florida, my air cycles on and off a lot.. it may only be off for 5-8 minutes at a time running for less than 15 minutes each time. I put the fan speed on low, to try and dehumidify the home a little more. The a/c guy said that's good its closely maintaining your temp. But I know, its also costing me a lot of money in short cycling that compressor every 10 minutes. ITs a brand new house/unit. I was playing around with option 6.... I think it was "CPH"
I bumped the wrong button and changed the setting that was in there.. But I think it was set to 4 or 5 CPH, I set that to 2. It wasn't very hot outside yesterday, but I put the air a few degrees lower than the house temp, and it seemed like it ran for over 20 minutes,, I think. But the home had that nice dry feeling I was seeking...
Before, it would click on and off so frequently it never had that crisp dry feeling...
Am I on the right track?

Thanks

 

The quickest and easiest way to tell if the auxiliary heat strip is on is to look at the electric meter. If the strips are energized the meter will be spinning much more rapidly than when only the condenser is running. I like to set the CHP to 3 but it is a personal preference.

When you set the thermostat to emergency heat the condenser is supposed to be locked out and only the heat strip is energized. Since you don't a hear a click when you turn on the heat strip you could have a bad sequencer. You are correct that a 5KW strip won't put out a whole lot of heat by itself. Did you get a chance to see if the heat strip has it's own breaker?

If you post the model number of your air handler I will try and locate a schematic.

 

Yes, I look inside the unit.. didn't se any breaker at all actually, my old unit had a breaker in the handler... the breaker box for the house has the a/h breaker... but theres only one ... My meter is digital.. kinda hard to tell.. The power company guy did put in that load management box.. if your familiar with that.. you know.. they cycle the a/c and heat strips during peak load times..and I get a credit to my bill every month.. maybe they didn't do it right or something....I have heard of that happening before to some friends of mine.

but either way.. if I unplug the aux wire behind the thermostat like you said...there should be no chance of it coming on.. if my heat pump fails and I need emergency heat... ill use my space heater..

does what I said make sense though? in regards to longer run cycles being more efficient as well as more comfortable? when it was on 4.. "I think" it would only run 10 mins, 15 minutes max at a time...

My manual says 25hcb3/25hcc5 on the front

fx4dnfo25tooabaa (the o's may be zeros or o's im not sure) is what is says for model # on the air handler

 

You have one circuit breaker that protects the air handler and heat strip. Some of the digital electric meters have bars that go up and down to show current usage. Yes, the lower the CPH setting the fewer times the system cycles on/off.

 

Is there a downside to the lower cycles per hour? And the info on my unit I gave you.. does that seem like the right info? Im at work.. I was getting the info from my wife via phone.. Sorry I have drug this out so long... LOL do you get payed for this or are you that generous?

Kevin.

 

No, as long as you are happy with the setting. Yes, the numbers you provided are accurate.

Here are a couple of links for your air handler if you need them in the future:

http://dms.hvacpartners.com/docs/101...fancoil-03.pdf
http://dms.hvacpartners.com/docs/100...fancoil-03.pdf

No pay involved. The regulars here donate their time and expertise to try and help others.